Quack-grass digger.



M. KUEPLER. QUACK GRASS BIGGER. APPLICATION FILED MARHQ, 1914.

' Patented July 7, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

M. KUEFLER. QUACK GRASS BIGGER.

APPLICATION FILED MAILQ, 1914. 1,102,518, Patented July 7,1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

v a lziizss' I 7/ M To all whom it may concern:

MATHIAS KUEFLER, 0F LAKEGEOR-GE TOWNSHIP, STEARNS COUNTY, MINNESOTA.

QUACK-GRASS BIGGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July '7, 1914:.

' Application filed March 9, .1914. Serial No. 823,477. 1

Be it known that I, MATHIAS KUEFLER, a citizen of the United States,residing in Lake George township, in the county of Stearns andState ofMinnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inQuack-Grass Diggers; and I do hereby.

declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of'theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide an improved machine fordigging quack grass; and, to this end, it consists of the noveldevicesand combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in theclaims.

As is well known, quack grass grows profusely in cultivated farm lands,and, in many instances, is so destructive to crops, and makes thecultivation of the soil so difficult, that lar e tracts of farmlands-are practically wort iless. The extermination of quack grassfromthe soil in which it has obtained a footing has been an extremelydifficult matter.

My machine will dig up this quack grass, and deposit the same on top .ofthe ground, where it is either left to be killed by the sun or, raked upand destroyed.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention, likecharacters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improvedmachine, some,

"secured by bolts 20. To each bar 17 is separts being broken away; andFig. 2 is a plan view of the same.

The numeral 1 indicates the rear end portion of a truck frame mounted ona pair of wheels 2, which may be drawn by draft animals or propelled byany suitable means. An explosive engine, indicated as an entirety by thenumeral 3, is bolted or otherwise rigidly secured upon the truck frame1,

slightly forward of the wheels 2.

A transversely extended shaft 4 is journaled in horizontally alinedbearing 5, secured .to the truck frame to the rear of the wheels 2'.This shaft 4 is driven in thedirectionof the arrow marked on Fig 1, by

means of a belt 6 which runs over a relatively small pulley 7 secured tothe engine shaft, and a relatively large pulley 8, secured to the shaft4. Collars 9 on the shaft 4: engage the outer ends of the bearings 5,and thereby hold said shaft against endwise movement with respect to thetruck frame 1.

Back of the truck frame 1 is located an approximately horizontallyextended supplemental frame 10, pivotally secured, at the forward endsof its side members, to the shaft 4 for vertical swinging movement. Unthe rear end portions of the side members of the supplemental frame 10is a pair of axially'alined outwardly projecting trunnions 11,- on whichis journaled a pair of roundengaging wheels 12 for supporting t e rearportion of said frame 10. A pair of rearwardly and downwardly projectingdrag bars 11 is pivotally secured, at 13, the shaft 4: for verticalswinging movement just inside of the side bars of the supplemental frame10.

J ournale'd on the rear ends of the drag bars 14 is a cylinder providedwith groundengaging teeth. This cylinder comprises a shaft 15, heads 16,and tubular bars 17. The shaft 15 extends parallel with the shaft 4:,and is journaled in bearings 18 set into and secured to the rear ends ofthe drag bars 14. The heads 16, as shown, three in number, are securedto the shaft 5 and provided in their peripheries with segmentalcircumferlar bars 17 are mounted and permanently cured a plurality ofground-engaging teeth 21. By reference to Fig. 1, it will be noted thatthese teeth 21 are backwardly inclined, with respect to the direction ofthe rotation of the cylinder to which they are secured, the purpose ofwhich will presently appear. It will also be noted, by reference to Fig.2, that the teeth of one of the bars 17 are staggered, with respect tothe teeth on the adjacent bars. The toothedcylinder is rotated in thedirection of the arrow marked on Fig. 1, and at a peripheral speedconsiderably reater than the travel of the truck. This is accomplishedby means of a sprocket chain 22 which runs over a relatively largesprocket wheel 23, secured to the shaft 4, and a relatively smallsprocket wheel 24, secured to the shaft 15.

A latch lever 25 and cooperating segment 26 on the truck frame 1 areprovided for holding the tooth-equipped cylinder in different verticaladjustments. The latch lever 25 is connected to a bail-like bar 27,secured at its ends to the rear ends of the drag bars 14, by arelatively long link 28, pivotally secured to the intermediate portlonof said lever, and a relatively short link'29, secured to theintermediate portion of the bar 27. The inner ends of these links 28-29are pivotally secured, respectively, to a pair of oppositely projectingarms 3031 on a horizontally extended rock shaft 32. This rock shaft 32extends transversely above the supplemental frame 10, and is journaledat its ends in the side members of a bail-like bar 33, secured at itsends to the side members of said frame.

Obviously, by setting the latch lever 25 in difierent adjustments, withrespect to the latch segment 26, the free or rear ends of the drag bars14 may be supported in different elevations, thereby regulating thedepth to which the teeth 21 will enter the ground, during the operationof the machine. Or the drag bars may be elevated sufficiently to carrythe teeth 21 completely out of the ground, to render the machineinoperative, while the same is being turned around or moved from placeto place.

As the peripheral speed of the toothed cylinder is considerably greaterthan the travel of the wheeled truck, the teeth 21, during the rotationof the cylinder, engage the quack grass below the surface of thegroundyand lift the same bodily, together with its roots, out of theground, and deposit the same at the rear of the machine. By incliningthe teeth 21 backward, with respect to the direction of travel of themachine, the said teeth will more readily release the quack grass as thesame is lif :d from the ground.

The drag bars 14 are connected, just forward of the tooth-equippedcylinder, by a horizontally extended tie bar 34.

The above described device, in actual practice, has been found highlyefficient for the purpose had in view.

What I claim is 1. In a machine of the kind described, the combinationwith a truck, of a supplemental frame'at the rear of said truck,pivotally secured thereto, at its forward end, for vertical swingingmovement, ground-engaging wheels journaled on the rear end of said suplemental frame, a pair of rearwardly pro ecting drag bars pivotallysecured, at

their forward ends, to said truck for vertical swinging movements, acylinder, having ground-engaging teeth, journaled in the rear ends ofsaid drag bars, means for dr1ving said cylinder, and means connected tosaid supplemental frame for vertically adjusting the rear ends of saiddrag bars.

'2. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a truck, ofa transverse shaft journaled on said truck, means for driving saidshaft, a supplemental frame at the rear of said truck, pivotallysecured, at its forward end, to said shaft for vertical swingingmovement, ground-engaging wheels journaled on the rear end of saidsupplemental frame, a pair of rearwardly projecting drag bars pivotallysecured, at their forward ends, to said shaft for vertical swingingmovement, a cylinder, having ground-engaging teeth, journaled in therear ends of said drag bars, driving connections from said shaft to saidcylinder, and means connected to said supplemental frame for verticallyadj ustingthe rear ends of said drag bars.'

3. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a truckhaving mounted thereon an explosive engine, of a transverse shaftjournaled on said truck, driving con-' nections from said engine to saidshaft, a supplemental frame at the rear of said truck, pivotallysecured, at its forward end, to said shaft for vertical swingingmovement, ground-engaging wheels journaled on the rear end of saidsupplemental frame, a pair of rearwardly projecting drag bars pivotallysecured, at'their forward ends, to said shaft for vertical swingingmovement within said supplemental frame, a cylinder, havingground-engaging teeth, journaled in the rear ends of said drag bars,driving connections from said shaft to said cylinder, and means,including a rock shaft journaled on said supplemental frame, forvertically adjusting the rear ends of said drag bars.

4:. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a truckhaving mounted thereon an explosive en ine, of a transverse shaftjournaled on said truck, driving connections from said engine to saidshaft, a supplemental frame at the rear of said truck, pivotallysecured,'at its forward end,

to said shaft for vertical swinging movenient, ground-engaging wheelsjournaled on the rear end of said supplemental frame, a pair ofrearwardly projecting drag bars pivotally secured, at their forwardends, to said shaft for vertical swingingmovement within saidsupplemental frame, a cylinder,

having ground-engaging teeth, journaled to the rear ends of said dragbars, driving connections from said shaft to said cylinder, means forvertically adjusting the rear ends of said drag bars comprising a latchlever In testimonywhereof I afiix my signature and latch segment on said.truck, a rock in presence of two witnesses.

shaft,havin a pair of reversely projecting v M ATHI AS KUEFLER arms,-journg. ed. o n saidsupplemental frame,

S and links 'cdnnec't'ingsaid'latch"1e\ir-=a;nd "Witnesses,:,r

, said drag bars with the arms of said. rock JOHN MILLER,

' 4 M MgR rm HAEHN.

copies of this patent may be ebtalned for five cents each, byaddrelsln'g i110 commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

